Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ A Gift of Love ❯ Temptations ( Chapter 18 )

I also watched the dub for the first time… I could seriously do a better Ren voice, with and without the accent, I am an aspiring voice actress after all. Try me… once my cheeks heal. -cries- On the other hand, his French voice is wicked sexy. His Spanish voice isn't bad either. -swoon— And of course, I love his Japanese voice most… because I love Paku Romi. That was my mini-rant about dub voices.

 

This is random, but I don't remember Ren even cooking in the series…

 

You may notice that sometimes quotes used in thoughts/flashbacks from previous chapters don't match. I do this on purpose, because sometimes the new quote fits better than the old one, but gets the same point across. It's done in anime all the time.

 

Notes: This chapter has slight lime implications. Don't worry, I'd warn you if it was anything serious.

 

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A Gift of Love - Chapter Eighteen: Temptations

 

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The next time Ren opened his eyes, it wasn't morning. It was early in the morning; three. He looked beside him and saw that he was alone. He immediately sat up and looked about the room.

 

Pin-Mei wasn't there.

 

He walked out of the bedroom and into the living room. He breathed a sigh of relief. She was standing in front of a large window looking out over the city.

 

“Don't scare me like that. I didn't know where you went.”

 

“Sorry… did I wake you?”

 

“No, my instinct did. I was told you weren't in bed.”

 

“Is that so?” She still hadn't turned from the window. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her; one around her chest, the other, her waist.

 

“Why are you up?”

 

“Couldn't sleep… I felt sorry for that man.”

 

“But he tried to kidnap you.”

 

“It doesn't mean that I wanted him to die.”

 

He fell silent.

 

“That can't be all. What else is bothering you?”

 

She was silent for a moment.

 

“Maybe I should just go with them.”

 

“What?”

 

“I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me, especially not you.”

 

He released her and spun her around. “Why do you always think that sacrificing yourself will solve things? It will never solve things! If anything, it just gives people initiative to do more evil deeds.” He released her shoulders and drooped his head, his bangs hiding his eyes.

 

“Besides…do you think I'd be happy if you went with them? I'd rather die fighting to save you than be without you. I wouldn't be happy if you were gone. I haven't put all my energy into you just so someone else can take you away from me.”

 

“Ren…”

 

“I'm going back to bed,” he said, and left the room.

 

Pin-Mei stared after him. I'm such a fool… She followed him.

 

He was about to get back into the bed when she came in.

 

“Ren.”

 

He stopped, but didn't look at her.

 

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to act like being with you meant nothing to me. Please forgive me.”

 

“It's alright,” he said flatly. He continued to get in bed. She quickly walked over and clutched him from behind.

 

“Please… don't be angry with me… I know that I never think before I say those things, and that it hurts you when I act like I don't want to be with you. But I do. You know I do. If I didn't, I wouldn't have accepted this ring.” She closed her left hand into a fist and gently grazed his chest with the diamonds. “I do want to be with you. I mean it.”

 

He gripped her right arm and flipped her onto the bed, him on top. As a blush covered her face, he leaned to whisper in her ear.

 

“Be more selfish,” he told her. “And you should cover yourself more, then you won't be so cold. I can handle harsh temperatures, and it's clear you can't.” He ran a hand down the side of her body. She shivered. He placed his forehead on hers. “Don't worry, I'll keep you plenty warm.”

 

She turned her head away, trying to hide her face, but he gently turned it back to his. “Promise me you'll stay in bed, alright?” Pin-Mei nodded hastily. He smirked. “Heh, good girl.” He kissed her gently, then calmly sat up and rolled over. “Good night.”

 

God, she's so much fun to tease.

 

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Ren woke up the next morning and opened the curtain.

 

“Looks like today's going to be a little warmer,” he said. “We can do a lot more today than yesterday. What do you want to do?” Pin-Mei said nothing. “Pin-Mei?” He turned around to the bed.

 

She was huddled under a lump of covers. He ripped them off of her.

 

“Rise and shine. Let's not waste the day away.”

 

She wouldn't even move. He shook her.

 

“Come on. I'm making breakfast and you better come out here soon.” He walked towards the door.

 

“…coming…”

 

He turned around. “Jeez, finally. You're so slow in the morning.” Pin-Mei walked slowly towards him, but suddenly started falling. “Hey!” He ran and grabbed her before she hit the ground. “What's up with you? You're so clumsy.”

 

“…sorry…”

 

Then he turned her over and saw her closed eyes and red cheeks. He could feel a tremendous amount of heat radiating from her body.

 

“Hey…”

 

He touched her face, then her forehead, then put his cheek on her forehead to double-check what he felt.

 

“Pin-Mei, are you sick?”

 

She probably hadn't heard him. All she could do was mumble. “…I promise I'll stay in bed this time…I promise…” She was shivering.

 

He picked her up and placed her on the bed. Then, he did the only thing he could do at that point…

 

“Mom?”

 

“Ren, dear, what is it?”

 

“I think Pin-Mei's sick.”

 

“Well, what's going on?”

 

“She's really hot.”

 

“Yes, dear, but what are the symptoms?”

 

“I just said one.”

 

“Oh. Well, what else is she doing?”

 

“Shivering.”

 

“She definitely has a fever.”

 

“…What should I do?”

 

“Well, if she's shivering, you'll have to dress her in something warm.”

 

“But-But—!”

 

“Get a hold of yourself. If she continues to shiver, then she'll just get worse. Don't give her coffee or tea. Give her water, juice and soup. Don't let her get up until she's feeling better, or else she'll just fall asleep on the rug. Just keep an eye on her, and she should be fine.”

 

“But what will I do if I get sick?”

 

“You've always had a strong immune system, so you should be fine. Call me if you need more help.”

 

He hung up. God, why was it always him? He went back to the room and looked at her. She was curled up in a ball, still shivering. He didn't like seeing her like that, but the thought of dressing her wasn't all that attractive, either. Knowing his luck, she'd wake up in the middle of it, then things would get really ugly.

 

“Get a hold of yourself, Ren!” he told himself. “She's your fiancée, doing something like this shouldn't be such a big deal! You want to help her, don't you?”

 

He took a deep breath and got some of his old winter pajamas out. It was hard finding a pair that wasn't made of silk, but he finally found a cotton set. He turned back to the bed and breathed again. It was now or never.

 

Once he was on the bed, he propped her up and sat behind her. As he began to remove her nightgown, he could only think about what happened a few nights ago.

 

“Let's just do it now! I'll show you that I'm not a child!”

 

He froze just thinking about it. Once he realized what he was thinking about, he shook it off and tried to finish his task quickly.

 

When he had finally removed the small silk dress, he took the dark blue pajama top and put it over her head. Then he realized her arms were under it, and not in the sleeves. He was going to have to go under and stick them through.

 

“I hate my life.”

 

With a red face, he reached under the shirt and gingerly touched each arm and put them in their respective sleeves. He hurriedly put the pants on, and then ran off to make some soup.

 

Glad that's over. Heh. Most guys would think I was an idiot for hating something like that so much. Well, excuse me for my sense of pride and reason.

 

When it was ready, he put a lid over it and kept the burner on warm. He went and turned on the TV, just to pass the time. Just as Ren was about to learn how not to be seen, he heard a strained whisper of his name. He jumped up and ran back to the room.

 

“Pin-Mei?”

 

She was laying down in their bed under the covers, her eyes half open, and still visibly feverish. When she saw him, she smiled faintly.

 

“There you are. Now I know how you feel when you wake up and I'm not there.”

 

He went over to her and sat in a chair he had placed on the right of the bed. “How are you feeling?”

 

“Like I have a fever.”

 

“Oh, really?”

 

“Yup.”

 

“Gee, I wonder why.”

 

She giggled a little, then just smiled at him. “I'm so lucky to have someone like you to take care of me,” she said. “I've always wanted to know what it felt like to be taken care of like this by my mother.”

 

“Well, if it helps any, I had to call mine to know what to do.”

 

She smiled again. “Thanks.”

 

She reached her hand out a little, and he took it in both of his.

 

“I'm so lucky,” she said again, her voice seemingly giving out.

 

He smiled and brushed back her bangs to feel her head again. “I'm going to take your temperature.” He stuck the thermometer in her mouth, removing it after it beeped. “100.7. Not the worst it could be.”

 

He stood up to put it away, but felt a tug on his wrist. He looked back to see Pin-Mei clutching him as tight as she could manage in her state. Her eyes conveyed a sense of yearning that he didn't remember seeing before.

 

“What? You don't want me to go?” She shook her head. “Fine, I guess I WON'T go put this away.”

 

As he was about to sit back down in the chair, Pin-Mei used what seemed to be all of her strength to pull him on top of her.

 

“Pin-Mei…what…?”

 

As soon as his body landed on hers, a shot rang out and a bullet hit the wall where he had been standing. Ren looked at the hole in the wall in disbelief, then at her.

 

“Pin-Mei… you knew that was going to happen?”

 

She hesitated, then nodded and pointed out the window to a figure standing on a nearby rooftop.

 

“I see…”

 

He put a blanket around her and gently put her in one of the room's large closets.

 

“Don't worry, I'll be right back. I'm going to get that person.”

 

He grabbed his Kwan Dao and jumped out the window and onto one of the rooftops. Looking up, he could see the dark figure that had fired the shot aimed at him. He jumped across the roofs and landed in front of his adversary.

 

“You have a lot of nerve coming after me like that, you bastard,” he said.

 

The figure chuckled. “Don't flatter yourself. We were merely trying to kill you because it'd be so much easier to retrieve the Xu girl that way.”

 

“What do you want with her?”

 

“It is what Master Kai desires, so I will carry out his will.”

 

“Over my dead body. Or maybe yours.” There was a glint in his eye. “Yes, that sounds much better.”

 

“Heh heh. No wonder Master Kai wishes you dead. Your sadistic attitude is quite annoying.”

 

“Sorry, but my fiancée seems to like it, so I'm not going to be changing my ways anytime soon,” Ren said with a smirk. He raised his Kwan Dao and charged at him.

 

The man brandished a sword and crossed blades with him. “I'm the only one left here to kill you. If you can defeat me, then you may be able to have a few more days of peace.”

 

“Heh. Well then, I'll be seeing you.”

 

Ren pulled on the last attachment of the pole end of the Kwan Dao. A Kodachi appeared and he thrust it through the man's heart, killing him instantly.

 

“--Not.”

 

He kicked him off the roof, allowing his to land on the street below, then made his way back through the window. Pin-Mei was right where he left her.

 

“It's alright. He's gone. You can come out now.”

 

Pin-Mei squinted at his shirt and reached out to touch it. He looked down and saw that there was a bit of blood on it. A little nervous, he waited for her reaction.

 

She looked sad for a moment, as if mourning the man's death, then smiled and pulled out a small sign that read “Xie Xie”.

 

He smiled at her. “You're welcome.” Then he thought about what had just happened. “Where did you get that sign?”

 

She pointed to a hole in the back of the closet. A sign above it read, “OBJECT VOID: Take item to be used in scenes where they would otherwise be unavailable.”

 

“What the hell is that doing in the back of my closet?” She shrugged. He followed suit. “Oh well. Let me bring you the soup I made.”

 

He carried her to the bed and set her down, then retrieved a bowl of soup from the kitchen. She ate it slowly as he watched. When she was done, he took it from her and put it in the sink.

 

“Something just occurred to me, Ren,” she said when he came back, her voice restored. “Did you dress me?”

 

His face burned up more than her fever. Busted.

 

“Um, yes I did…but I didn't do anything! You know that old saying when you go into a porcelain store: look but don't touch! I mean… NO! I didn't look! Honestly, I didn't! I had to reach under the shirt to pull your arms through the sleeves, but I DID NOT touch ANYTHING! I didn't even want to! Not to say you're not cute or anything! I mean, you ARE cute, but I wouldn't take advantage of you while you were sleeping or sick! I wouldn't do it while you were awake and well, either! I… GAH!!!” He covered his head as he screamed.

 

Pin-Mei smiled and went to go sit on his lap. He uncovered himself as she placed her hand on his cheek and lowered him so she could whisper in his ear.

 

“Thank you. I know I can trust you not to touch me…By the way…you're really cute when you're flustered.” She kissed him under his ear and put her head on his chest. Ren was digesting her words.

 

I'm cute?

 

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She was feeling better by the time they went to bed. As they layed together, Ren wanted to ask her if she knew who “Master Kai” was, and if she knew why he might want her so badly. But he didn't. Something told him to keep it quiet for now.

 

He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt her snuggle up against him. He looked over at her. Her eyes were open, and she was looking at her engagement ring.

 

“Are you going to cry again?”

 

“…No…” But she did.

 

He smirked at her. “You're hopeless.”

 

“So what if I am?”

 

“It's okay, I still love you.”

 

She let her hands run down his arms. “Would you think badly of me if I said that I love your body?”

 

“No…why?”

 

“Because I do.”

 

“Um…thank you.”

 

Silence. Ren knew he was supposed to be saying something.

 

“I can't say how I feel about yours because you have to keep yourself covered.”

 

“And yet, you could have seen it today.”

 

“I suppose you're right. I don't know… something about you inviting me to see it sounds more enticing. It also takes away the guilt factor.”

 

“Do you want to see?”

 

“Ye—I mean WHAT?”

 

She gauged his reaction, then gave a small smile.

 

“Just kidding…” The enthusiasm wasn't in her voice.

 

He stared at her. “Don't just show me for no reason. You don't understand what doing something like that does to guys like me.”

 

“What does it do?”

 

“To be honest, I don't feel comfortable talking about it.”

 

“Oh…I see…”

 

“There's been too much talk like this lately. I want it to stop. This isn't why I love you.” He hugged her close. “Even if your body was horrible and ugly, I'd still love you, because it's your personality that I find attractive.”

 

“Ren…”

 

“When the time comes for that, you'll know.”

 

And at that time, I'll make you the happiest girl in the world.